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daven

04-07-2008, 09:25 AM Post subject: to play or not to play...

#1 (permalink)

Straight Flush

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: soaking up ethanol, moving on up

Posts: 5,807

why do you play full-ring?

to make money? to solve the game (as in "that shit's been played yo")?
to?

I'm struggling with what motivates me at the moment...

I think I beat 50nl (4ptBB/100?) playing up to 12 tables.

I've been successful enough in sticking to conservative bankroll management and dissociating myself from the dollar value of bbs that I'd be happy to take a 51-49 flip if the cards were faceup

I can switch to automatic play and it does just fine

I feel that making too many adjustments right now would:
1) improve my play
2) teach me more
3) set me up better for higher limits
4) probably have a neutral or slightly negative impact on my winrate at the limits I'm playing at.
so should I adjust?

winning and losing feel equally dispassionate

so I find myself experimenting with running 35-28 for a session, just to see how it works... or 8-7... and it works, just not quite as well

I catch myself thinking of dollars in real life as buy-ins, like, pah, it's only a buy-in, why not...

I have an addictive hobby that generates income and is available anytime I choose.

I watch my bankroll jump four buy-ins during a session, and the proportional impact to my bankroll is so low that it feels immaterial
and the same if i lose a few buy-ins...

Healthy? Thoughts?

Should I start spending more money on cool shit? (computer, surfboard the last month)
Should I move up? (why? I don't think I can run 2ptBB/100 at 100nl, so where's the rationale in doing so short-term?)

A little confused about this right now....

Money isn't/hasn't been my raison d'etre forever, still isn't. I've dined out of skips in Spain, lived off juggling, chosen one-way tickets over career, spent years climbing/surfing/on the road etc. Broke or not feel fine, I always find food and shelter...
Yet money is the only way to measure success in poker.. initially I played cos it was fun, now I dunno if I would play if it wasn't for the money

There are a bunch of people on this site infinitely better than I am, playing higher limits, winning loads more than I could even dream of - what motivates you?
I'm curious, I know I have so much left to learn, and I'm not sure if I can be bothered....

sound like a whining prat? sorry...

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d0zer

04-07-2008, 02:57 PM

#2 (permalink)

Moderator

Join Date: Jul 2007

Posts: 2,523

I play because:

I like the game. I like the challenge of trying to put villains on ranges, the thinking involved. I try to 'figure out' every hand and that's interesting to my usually bored brain.

I like watching my progress. The money is basically an arbitrary measure of success like points in a video game. Only it's got the added bonus of actually having value (and thus not being arbitrary)

'Climbing the ladder' is an exciting process for me and I think if I ever start to stagnate at a level I'll get sick of the game and quit. Every time I move to a new level, I've got to adjust my game a bit and that keeps the game interesting.

I stay interested because it's one of those games that is easy to learn, but difficult to master, so there's always room for improvement. As I get better and better the game becomes more interesting because my thought process gets deeper and deeper.

Oh, and I've got a gambling addiction.

pgil

04-07-2008, 04:01 PM

#3 (permalink)

Full House

Join Date: Jun 2005

Posts: 1,103

I play because it's a lot of fun. The money is also nice. If it wasn't fun though, I don't know if I would play, or play all that well, not to say I play well or anything.

I enjoy knowing what an opponent is going to do and with what. And also knowing what he does and doesn't want me to do. I love taking stacks off of complete fish with a weak top pair, and then turning around and stacking regulars with unlikely straights. Raising from the button or SB as a steal 10 times in a row vs. a tight ass nit and watching him fold every single time.

Plus, as long as you are constantly learning, the game is constantly changing.

"If you can't say f*ck, you can't say f*ck the government" - Lenny Bruce

pokerfan

04-07-2008, 04:07 PM

#4 (permalink)

4-of-a-Kind

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: NS, Canada

Posts: 1,736

i hate to work, so i've made a living from this game for a long time.
simple enough

dev

04-07-2008, 07:04 PM

#5 (permalink)

4-of-a-Kind

Join Date: Jul 2005

Location: swonging and swonging

Posts: 1,550

Quote:

Originally Posted by d0zer

Should I move up? (why? I don't think I can run 2ptBB/100 at 100nl, so where's the rationale in doing so short-term?)

The rationale in the short term is that you get to move up and challenge yourself so you don't have to worry about your "usually bored brain".

Quote:

Originally Posted by d0zer

Oh, and I've got a gambling addiction.

Phil Ivey
T J Cloutier
Mike Matusow
etc. etc.

Honestly, I don't have fun playing poker, not in the sense that most people think of fun, anyway.

I laugh and joke while I play live to put the table in a good gambly mood. I tell funny stories to illustrate that the game's all about luck and there's no skill involved. I have conversations with other regulars about how it's impossible to actually beat the game unless you're playing nose-bleed stakes. It's all an act, I'm not having fun.

That said, I'm not totally in it for the money, either. I love this game, really and truly. I've been playing games for money since I won my first magic: the gathering tourney at 14 years old. I've hustled everything from chess to basketball (and I'm not that good at either), and in the end it's about playing my best game and winning. Money won is twice as nice as money earned.

I think it's safe to say I don't have a gambling problem. I'm in casinos about 4 days a week and I've never played roulette or craps or slots. I've only played blackjack once, and that was because my ride was down a lot from poker and I was up a bunch and he guilt-tripped me into playing(I played like 6 hands and lost them all). Even so, I admit I'm addicted to poker. I don't think I'd ever want to stop. The only issue is balancing it with the rest of my life, which I'm still working on.

For me it's not a question of whether I want to move up or not. I have a plan, I'm sticking to it. I wont be withdrawing from my account until my vegas trip next month. I'll be redepositing at least a portion of what's left when I get back. If I get to a point where I can withdraw a certain amount every month, I'll do that. I plan to play online for my rent and food. Then I can travel or go back to school for the next 20 years, or both. Poker to me is a great game, it's also a gateway to freedom. Boredom? Are you kidding me?

Check out my self-deprecation here!

Deanglow

04-07-2008, 07:30 PM

#6 (permalink)

Moderator

Join Date: Feb 2007

Location: lol

Posts: 2,443

Quote:

Oh, and I've got a gambling addiction.

It's only an addiction if you are losing enough to put yourself in harm's (either purefly financial or otherwise) way. Saying CTS has a gambling addiction is like saying Tiger Woods has a golf addiction.

d0zer

04-07-2008, 08:07 PM

#7 (permalink)

Moderator

Join Date: Jul 2007

Posts: 2,523

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deanglow

Quote:

Oh, and I've got a gambling addiction.

I hoped that my comment would be interpreted as tongue & cheek.

It's only a 'problem' if you're losing, right?

One of the biggest factors that psychologists use to determine true dysfunctional behavior is how much the behavior impact's the individual's life. If you find yourself 'needing' to play, neglecting social commitments, missing work etc... then maybe you do have a problem.

And I don't mean "no I don't wanna go hang out with your superficial friends at a stupid club honey" kinda 'neglecting social commitments', I mean becoming a shut-in to the point where you're losing good friends...

I know I don't have a problem because I can shut it off when I get tired, sick of the game, have started a bit of tilt from a cooler, hit my timelimit etc... Plus I still make time for my other hobbies like guitar and jiu-jitsu.

Despite me being a little obsessed with this game at the moment, I'm no more obsessed with it than I was at a video game I really got into, or guitar when I first started playing & was playing for 4 hours a day.

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